Groupie
by pikapikatchu
Summary: After a string of traumatizing events, Greg finally finds love. But the relationship is just a little too good to be true. Follows my other stories, starting at "Backstabber".
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! What better way to celebrate the New Year than another story? ;)**

**I hope you'll enjoy it! I always love to hear what you guys think of my stories, so if you want write me a review!**

**Now enjoy!**

**Big Love,**

**pikapikatchu**

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><p>"I think it's possible." Nick and Greg argued about a case they were working on as they were wandering through a supermarket.<p>

"I don't think so. He must be Houdini to pull that off." Greg shrugged as he grabbed a chocolate bar out of a shelf. "You want one, too?"

"No, thanks. I gotta watch my weight. I gained like five pounds in two weeks." Nick rubbed his belly with quite an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Oh stop it, you look good and you know it," the younger CSI replied as he grabbed a second chocolate bar from the shelf. "There you go."

"No, I don't want it." Nick put it back. "Come on, we've got a lot of work to do and I don't want to waste my break in here."

"Don't rush me, I still don't know what I want to eat." Greg's eyes kept wandering between the shelves.

Nick rolled his eyes. "What was that you just said?_ 'There you go'_." He handed him a sandwich.

"Egg salad? Really? I don't know." He looked at Nick's annoyed face. "Alright, alright. I'll take it."

They went over the cash register to pay for their food. On their way out they ran into officer Spencer, officer Rogers and officer Mays. Being the friendly, overwhelming guy Spencer was, he quickly hugged Greg. "There he is! We were just talking about you," he said in an upbeat voice.

"...Yeah?" Greg asked quite suspicious and insecure.

"Don't worry, nothing bad. I just told them about our case from last week." Spencer was referring to a case the two had been working on, where their victim's wife heavily flirted with Spencer.

Greg nodded. "Well... We gotta get going. See you later."

Spencer patted the CSIs backs as he walked inside the supermarket.

"The story about the flirting wife would only be half as creepy had he not flirted back... the way he did, you know?" Greg rolled his eyes as he smiled at Nick. "...Oh crap. My wallet."

"What is it?"

"I think I left it at the cash register."

"What? Jesus, Greg, how often can you lose your wallet?"

"I didn't lose it, I... replaced it. ...I hope. Just a sec!" He hurried back to the supermarket entrance, but before he reached it, three gunshots were fired inside.

"Get down!" Nick yelled as he hurried over to Greg, pulling him behind a car.

Both men quickly grabbed their guns. Nick reached for his radio, waiting for the officers inside to give them an all-clear sign. They didn't.

After a short moment of silence, a piercing, high-pitched scream was heard from inside the supermarket. Another two shots were fired.

Greg got up in an attempt to hurry inside, but Nick grabbed him. "What are you doing?!"

"Right, sorry..."

"We wait for backup, we can't just rush in there without knowing what's going on!"

"I know, but..." Greg replied scared and worried. "Why did they shoot again?"

Nick was busy calling for backup, so he simply shrugged as he shook his head.

As the two CSIs hoped for the shooters to run out of the supermarket, backup arrived.

"What happened?" Brass asked as he hurried over to the CSIs.

"Mays, Rogers and Spencer are in there. Five shots fired, they don't respond over the radio," Greg explained with a worried look on his face.

"Alright, you two stay back, we're taking care of this." The captain walked off.

Nick and Greg walked over where the police was lining the police tape around the supermarket. They watched Brass' guys take over, preparing for storming the supermarket, but hoping they wouldn't have to.

Brass was anxiously walking up and down between two patrol cars as he made some important phone calls.

"Do you think they're okay?" Greg asked Nick with worry in his voice.

Nick nodded. "I'm sure they are."

"I-I know Spencer can be annoying, but... He's a good guy, he doesn't deserve that."

"He'll be fine. He's a great cop, he knows what to do in these situations."

Greg sighed and nodded.

When Nick put his hand on Greg's shoulder to comfort him, the door to the supermarket opened. As everyone standing around outside looked quite excited, three people coming out opened fire, pointing their handguns and a machine gun at the police crowd. While everyone took cover, Nick and Brass were trying to shoot at the gunmen. The shootout lastet several minutes as dozens of bullets went flying through the air. When the gunmen noticed that Brass and Nick were the ones shooting back at them, they intensified the bullet count towards the two, causing them to stop firing their guns, which gave the gunmen the opportunity to flee. Half of the patrol cars followed the getaway car the gunmen drove off with.

"Captain!" one of the officers yelled. "Rogers got hurt!"

Brass hurried over to his men – followed by Nick - while the SWAT team stormed the supermarket.

Greg looked around rather lost and confused. He didn't know what to do first, follow Nick and Brass to check on officer Rogers or be there for the people inside the supermarket. As he decided he'd better be there for the hostages, he glanced over to Nick, noticing a stain on his friend's sleeve. "Nick..." he said quietly as he walked over to him. "You got hit. You're hurt."

"I know, I'll take care of it in a minute," was all he responded, going back to helping officer Rogers.

"Greg!" Spencer shouted as he waved at him. "Are you guys alright?!" He was being propped up by a SWAT member as he walked out of the supermarket with quite a noticable limp.

The CSI hurried over to him. "...Kinda. What about you? Did you get shot?"

"Yeah, these guys were ruthless... Rogers had her hands up and they still shot at her."

Greg frowned. "...Any casualties?"

Spencer shook his head with a big smile. "We're all going to be fine. This could've been a lot worse." He patted him on the shoulder, causing the CSI to wince as he moaned. "...Sorry. Was I too rough?"

"N-No, this... shouldn't have hurt like that."

The officer looked at his hand. "Blood... What... that's not my blood, Greg. You're bleeding."


	2. Chapter 2

**Didn't want to have you guys wait too long for the next chapter! Here it is, enjoy!**

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><p>Greg walked out of the suture room of the hospital with a big smile on his face. "Are you done?" he asked Nick with quite an upbeat tone in his voice. His wound was quite a simple one, not much more than a rather deep scratch from a shattered car window as he took cover.<p>

"Yeah." Nick was just putting his shirt back on. A ricochet had hit him, but nothing to worry about, either. "What are you smiling about?"

"...Uh, everyone will be okay... You know. Even Rogers, even though it looked pretty bad at first. That's a reason to smile, isn't it?"

Nick rolled his eyes as he smiled himself. "Yeah right, and you think I believe that? Come on, spill it."

"I'm not telling!" he replied as he chuckled. "Now come on, let's head home."

Nick grabbed his stuff before walking out of the room. "Come on, I could really use a reason to smile, myself."

"Fine, but it's stupid. I..." He got interrupted by a nurse hurrying up to him.

"Greg, wait! I forgot to give you this, it's important." She handed him a prescription paper before hurrying off again.

Greg took a quick look at the paper before putting it in his pocket, his smile only getting bigger.

"Is everything alright? What meds do you need?" Nick looked at him worried.

"No meds," he simply replied as he opened the exit door.

"Then what wa... Wait... Wait! Did she just give you her phone number?"

Greg blushed a little as his steps got bigger.

"No way! How'd you do that? You were in there with her for, what, ten minutes?"

Greg opened the door to the driver's seat. "Why does it surprise you? I'm irresistible!"

Nick just rolled his eyes as he got in, too. He was happy for his friend, but also a little envy. "She seems nice."

"She is."

Nick knew how much of a delicate subject this was for Greg ever since the Novak case, but he was quite nosy. "Are you gonna call her?"

Greg shrugged as he started the car. "Maybe." He was working hard on his issues lately, with the help of his psychiatrist Dr. Reyes. But he wasn't quite sure if he was ready for dating just yet. "I kinda want to, but... Maybe I'll enjoy it more if I don't."

"How?"

"Well you know, we had a nice conversation, a lot of flirting that didn't feel awkward and... It was just nice. I might ruin it by calling her."

"Or you could make it even better, you'll never know if you don't try."

"True, but... I don't know, it's late, I'm tired, I don't want to make that decision now. I just wanna enjoy it for now."

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><p>The following few days, as the officers and CSIs who had become victims to the supermarket robbers recovered from their physical and emotional wounds, Greg and the nurse kept texting each other. The moment he had sent the first text he had already regretted his decision, but now he was enjoying the flirtatious texts she kept sending. He would've been happy to keep their contact at that, but his recent case forced him to meet her again in person. "Hey Greg!" she said with a bright smile on her face. "What are you doing here?"<p>

He walked into the hospital with a smile on his face, as well. "Hey Juno. I'm here to talk to a suspect. A guy was brought in with..."

"...a gunshot wound in his chest, right?"

"Yeah."

"I worked on him, too. I can show you to his room if you like."

"That would be great."

The walk to the suspect's room was a bit awkward for both of them. Greg didn't quite know what to do or say and Juno sensed that. Before she opened the door to the room, she stopped and turned around to the CSI. "Is everything alright... between us?"

"...What? Yeah, of course." He had quite an uncomfortable smile on his lips.

"Are you sure? Because I thought we had quite good chemistry and it was fun texting with you and... to be honest, I was looking forward to seeing you again. When I heard this guy was a suspect I hoped they would send you to investigate."

He was a bit overwhelmed with her confession and it showed in his face. But he felt pretty much the same way. "I enjoy it, too. It's just..."

"Oh god, I'm so stupid! I'm sorry, it's weird because we're both on the clock, right?"

"...Yeah, I mean, I... This isn't something we should talk about at work and..."

"Well maybe we could talk about it sometime after work."

Greg nodded, without really thinking about it.

"When do you get off today?"

"8 a.m."

"Great, I get off at 7.30 a.m., how about I pick you up at the lab and we get some breakfast?"

He was caught off guard, cursing himself for giving her the idea. "...S-sure. Sounds great."

"Great! Then... See you later!" She opened the door to let him inside and walked off.

He walked into the room, quickly closed the door behind him to put his head against it, sighing.

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><p>"I was waiting for a call, you know?" Nick exclaimed in an upbeat voice as he walked into the locker room at the start of a new shift. "How was it?"<p>

Greg looked up from the bench he was sitting on to tie his shoelaces. "It was nice."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"...Come on, you need to give me a little more than that." Nick opened his locker. "Will you meet her again?"

The younger CSI shrugged. "Maybe."

It was hard for Nick not to notice the heavy look on his friend's face. "...I didn't really like her, anyway."

Greg gave him a look. "It's not over yet."

"...Oh. No?"

"No, I just... It was great, okay? We flirted, we had some light physical contact... We kissed and... It was nice."

Nick looked a bit lost. "Then why do you look sad?"

"Because what we did yesterday is pretty much the line for me. She already talked about cooking for me and you know what that means."

His friend sighed as he nodded.

"It's like... I imagine in my head how nice it would be to date her, to have someone like her in my life. We're having nice dinners together, go on vacation, maybe... cuddle up in front of a good movie at home and... that's where it ends for me, you know?"

Nick frowned a little. He felt for his friend but couldn't help him. "You know what? I know this is hard for you, but you need to talk to her about this. There might not be an awful lot of women out there who are willing to adapt to your needs, but I'm sure there are some. And who knows, maybe Juno's the one."

Greg gave Nick a rather sad smile. "That would be nice."

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><p>Greg and Juno went on another date – initiated by the nurse. She liked Greg and wanted to make sure their relationship got a fair chance. She had started to notice that Greg was acting a little weird around her sometimes but she chose not to comment on it at first. Only when it became quite painfully obvious as she started making some sexual references that Greg didn't feel too comfortable with, she decided to speak up. "So Greg, you... uhm, are aware we're dating, right?" she bluntly asked as they were walking down the strip together.<p>

"...O-of course, why?" He stopped walking.

"You know, I think it's cute you're a little shy and all... and I really don't mind taking the first step but... it would be nice for you to respond to my innuendos." She smiled at him.

He looked down quite embarrassed. "I-I..." he stammered.

"You're not a virgin, are you?"

"...What? No, of course not, I had... No."

"Then what is it? If you don't find me attractive, why are you..."

"No! Stop it, I do find you attractive. Very... But... This isn't easy for me."

"Oh. Okay, sorry. Then... No pressure." She smiled as she started walking again, softly grabbing his hand. She stopped walking again as she noticed he didn't move. "We should get going if we want to watch that movie, Greg."

"T-That's it? No further questions?"

She smiled as she put her dark brown hair behind her ear. "Greg, it's fine. I'd love to hear why you have problems dealing with these things but... Asking questions would kind of be the opposite of no pressure, right?"

"...Really?"

"Would you feel comfortable telling me now? ...Here, in the middle of the strip?"

Hundreds of people were passing them as they stood there. "...Probably not."

"Exactly. Don't expect me to push you to do anything you're not comfortable with, okay? Not gonna happen." She gave him a big smile. "Now come on!"


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm very happy and grateful that you guys show interest in this story! Here's a new chapter, enjoy!**

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><p>For the next few days, as Greg and Juno continued to see each other almost every day, the beautiful nurse seemed to be all Greg could talk about. Nick was getting a bit annoyed by it but knew it was important for his friend to be able to talk about it. "So do you want to watch the game after shift?"<p>

"I can't, Juno and I are..." Greg got interrupted by a quite unnerved looking Nick.

"Come on, man. Don't you think you guys are meeting up too often?"

"What? Why?"

"Because when people date, they usually don't go on dates every single day."

"...We don't."

"You had breakfast yesterday."

Greg gave him a look. "Two hours after an exhausting shift hardly count as a date."

"Greg, you know I'm happy for you. It's great that she seems to be understanding and all but... You guys need to be able to miss each other, you know?"

"Look, I know we've been spending a lot of time together but I think it's perfectly normal at first to..." He got a text message and read it while he talked. "...Oh, she's canceled the date."

Nick raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"She just wrote she mixed up her schedule and needs to work the day shift."

"Oh, well... then you're free today, I guess. Gives us a great opportunity to talk about this relationship between you and Juno."

"...Yay," Greg replied sarcastically. He appreciated Nick's worries but he felt like he was overreacting and that everything was fine between him and the nurse.

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><p>A few days later, Nick was called to a crime scene where a man was shot in his own apartment, the woman who shot him claimed it was self defense and so far every piece of evidence he found pointed in that direction. As he kept looking through the apartment for clues, he started to realize that where the victim got shot was not his bedroom. He found a woman's belongings along with another quite interesting piece of evidence. "Hey Russell, look at that," he said to the supervisor who just entered the room.<p>

He looked around. "Wow, you're working fast today."

Nick chuckled. "Well, I'm quite motivated. The woman who shot this guy claims he tried to rape her. If it's true, we need to find enough evidence to help her case."

Russell nodded. "The idea's not too far off, I guess." He looked at the bed. The bedsheets had been torn off and a piece of the woman's clothes was lying on the floor. It appears it had been ripped off her. "What is it you wanted to show me?"

"This." He showed him a book. "That's the crap this guy who posed as Novak's son wrote about him. What's his name... Charles... something, I think."

"Small world, I guess."

"Yeah..." Nick said thoughtful as he browsed through the book.

Russell was quite concentrated on the evidence he was working on right now, but his concentration got interrupted by a woman yelling in the hallway.

"Where is he? Terence! ...No! Don't touch me!" she yelled agitated.

"This should be interesting," the supervisor said as he walked into the hallway.

Nick followed. "...What are you doing here?"

"This is my home! You're Nick, right? Greg's friend. What's going on? Where's Terence? Did something happ..." She stopped talking as she saw that her bedroom looked quite messy. "Were you in my room?!"

"You know her?" Russell asked surprised.

"...Yeah, her and Greg are dating," he explained. "This is your room, Juno?"

"Yeah, what were you doing in there?"

"We're investigating a possible murder. Do you know a woman named Mira Watts?"

"No, who is she? ...Did she get murdered?"

"No, actually... she killed someone."

"...Oh god. Terence?"

"We haven't identified him yet but... He's the man from the pictures on the fridge."

Tears started streaming down Juno's cheeks. "Wh-What happened? I don't understand."

"...Is... Is he your boyfriend?"

"What? No! We're roommates. I'm dating Greg, you know that."

"Sorry, just needed to know..." Nick sighed. "Alright, why don't you go with the officer? You'll need to answer some questions."

"What about my room? ...Can I go in there?"

Nick shook his head. "Sorry."

"...I just had an exhausting night shift, I'm in my scrubs. Can't I grab some clothes and change?"

"No, but we can get you some clothes if you'd like," Russell chimed in, gently smiling at her.

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><p>Greg walked through the police department's hallway with a smile on his face. His relationship with Juno had progressed quite a bit over the last few days and he was in an overall great mood. But the smile quickly faded as he walked past the interrogation room and spotted Russell and Brass talking to her. "...What? Hey, officer Stamp. What's this?"<p>

"Russell and Stokes are working on that case. Her husband got shot, I think," Stamp said as he walked past him.

"...Husband?"

Nick walked towards his friend with some files in his hands. "...Hey you."

"Nick, what's going on?! Why didn't you call me?"

"I wanted to see where this was going before talking to you about it. She's fine, okay? That's the important part."

"Yeah but... what happened? Stamp said her husband got shot."

"No. No, don't worry. Not her husband, her roommate. ...He died."

"Oh no..."

"Pretty much everything suggests he tried to rape the woman who shot him. She claims it was self defense and her injuries support that."

"...Whose gun was it?"

"Juno's."

Greg raised his eyebrows. "She owns a gun?"

"Yeah, she had it in her nightstand. The woman, Watts, claims the nightstand got knocked over and the gun fell out, she grabbed it and shot at him."

Greg nodded as he stared through the window to the interrogation room.

"Greg... did you tell her about Novak already?"

He kept staring into the room. "Yeah... well, no, not exactly."

"What does that mean?"

"I hinted at it... Why are you asking?"

"Did you mention Novak's name?"

Greg finally looked at Nick. "I don't think so."

"...Are you sure you didn't?"

"Pretty sure, yeah. Why?" He looked back to the interrogation room as the door opened.

Russell and Juno walked out. "...Greg, hey," she said as she wiped away her tears.

"...Hi."

She hugged him. "I'm so glad you're here."

Greg hugged her back. "A-are you alright?"

"Yeah... I just can't believe what they say about Terence. He's such a nice guy, he'd never..." She shook her head. "I can't even say it. It's just not right."

He nodded.

"What's going to happen now? I... I don't even have a place to sleep tonight, I don't know what to do."

Greg knew she was waiting for him to ask her to stay with him, but he just couldn't. "W-well, you... You could stay at..."

"The department could arrange for a hotel room," Nick chimed in, realizing that his friend was in need of some help.

"...Yeah. Right." She looked around the room. "So, Greg... Do you have a few minutes? Can we talk?"

"I'm sorry, not now. I... I'm quite busy and... B-but I'll call you later."

"Like Nick said, we'll get you a hotel room. Follow me." Brass and Russell walked her away.

"...What was that?" Nick raised his eyebrows.

"Nothing." Greg turned around to walk towards the exit, Nick followed him.

"Nothing? No, that was something. She's sad and confused and feels lost, her roommate was killed and she doesn't have a place to stay. Why were you acting so cold towards her?"

"What was I suppose to do? Invite her to spend the night at my place?" Greg shook his head without turning around to his friend.

"Well... yeah. I mean, no, not necessarily, but... You could've shown some sympathy, you know."

"Nick, drop it! I** know** I just messed up, I just don't know what I could've done differently." He sighed. "I mean, I know what I could've done differently but... I don't know how to. Okay? This is freaking me out. I don't know what to do about it."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Enjoy this new chapter!**

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><p>After an exhausting double shift – both physically as well as mentally, the first thing Greg did when he arrived at home was take a shower. He was constantly preoccupied with overthinking what happened with Juno a few hours earlier. He was determined not to let this relationship fail before it even started just because of his troubles with intimacy, he just needed to figure out a way how not to let that happen. After putting on his Pjs, which consisted of nothing more than some shorts, he grabbed his cell phone and sat down on his couch. With his feet nervously seesawing on the coffee table, he stared at Juno's number in his contact list. He knew he needed to call her, but he couldn't. He knew he needed to explain to her why he didn't invite her to stay with him, but he didn't know how. Lost in his thoughts, he startled as there was a knock on the door. He walked over to look through the spy, shocked to see Juno standing outside. "...What... Juno, what are you... What are you doing here?" He hurried inside the bedroom to grab a shirt to put on. He walked back towards the door before realizing pants would be a good idea, too. He went back to put some pants on before finally opening the door. "Hey."<p>

Juno had obviously been crying, but it wasn't that surprising to the CSI, after her roommate was shot just hours prior to her visit. "Greg, I'm sorry, I probably should've called first but... I couldn't sleep, so I called the lab and... they said you just went home so... Here I am."

Greg nodded with an insecure look on his face as he invited her in. "It's a difficult time, I know... Were you and Terence close?"

They sat down on the couch as she slightly nodded. "Well, not really. With my shift, we hardly saw eachother. But he was such a nice guy."

"I'm... sorry for your loss. Do you need anything? Do you... do you want something to drink?"

She got off her seat. "I'll get it, thanks." She walked into the kitchen. "Hey, do you mind if I smoke in here?"

He raised his eyebrows. He was not a fan of cigarettes. "...Yeah... go ahead," he replied without being too happy about it. "T-the glasses are in the top cabinet next to the fridge."

"Thanks!"

Greg tried to relax a bit as he sighed, closing his eyes. "You know... I was just about to call you..." he said, slightly bending the thruth. "I wanted to apologize for the way I acted earlier." He figured getting this out without having to look her in the eyes was the easiest way to go about it. "I didn't know what to say and know I chose the wrong words..."

Juno walked back in with two beer bottles in the same hand she was holding the burning cigarette with. "It's okay. Though I am a little disappointed you don't have any tequila." She was wearing the mini skirt she came here with, but lost the tights and her shirt, slightly pulling on her bra strap. "Wanna help me with this?"

"...Whoa! Juno, what...?!" Greg jumped off the couch. "P-put your shirt back on!"

She walked closer, putting the beer bottles on the coffee table as she laughed. "Why did you get off the couch?"

"...Please, just... Stop what you're doing. You're grieving and this is not the right way to deal with it."

She frowned. "Why not? I feel lonely, you have the cure for it, so..."

"You said you were alright with taking things slow..."

"I am, but... We can go slow about it from here, don't you think? Just sit back down again, have a beer and... We'll see what happens next."

He hastily shook his head as he moved towards the door. "I-I'm sorry but... I can't."

Her eyes watered. "...What am I doing here? Oh Greg, I apologize, I... I told you I was fine with taking things slow and I am, but... It's... I'll leave, I'm sorry."

"No, don't leave." Greg hated himself the moment he uttered those words. "Just... Put your shirt back on, please."

Juno had a hurt look on her face as she walked back into the kitchen to get her clothes. "Just forget it. You know what, forget me! I don't need this!"

"...Wait, no. You don't understand, I..."

"What's there to understand, huh? You obviously don't like me. Goodbye!"

He sighed. He was tired and didn't want to talk about this now, but he knew he needed to. "Please let me explain."

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><p>The next shift was putting quite a strain on Greg. He didn't get much sleep the day before so he could hardly keep his eyes open now. And the case he was assigned to was quite a complicated, sad one. As he was working on some evidence at the light table, he realized that the box that was sitting on the corner of the light table was containing evidence from the case of the shooting of Juno's roommate Terence. He decided to take a look inside, even thought he knew Russell asked him to stay away from the case. He got a whole three minutes before Nick walked in. "Hey, what are you working o... Hey, that's from my case!"<p>

"Relax, I'm just looking."

"For what?" Nick asked as he put a lab coat and gloves on.

"Nothing in particular."

"You know Russell's gonna freak if he finds out." Nick wasn't too comfortable with his friend fondling through the evidence box, either. "...Are you alright? You look tired."

Greg briefly looked up to his friend. "I've had, like, three hours of sleep. Juno came over, kept me awake for hours."

Nick raised his eyebrows with a surprised grin.

"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. I had to explain to her why I reacted like a scared puppy when she took her shirt off."

"...Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be, she took it quite well. She was very understanding and... what's this?" He looked up to Nick again.

"What do you mean?"

He held the Neil Novak book up. "This. Why is this in the evidence box?"

"...Oh. I meant to put that back, must've bagged it on accident..."

"Her roommate read this trash?" He chuckled as he flipped through a few pages.

Nick stood there quite surprised about how relaxed Greg was about this. Ever since he managed to get his name out of the book, he was much more chilled about it, even though he still wasn't a fan of the idea.

"...Whoa."

"What is it?"

"Did you see that? He highlighted some passages..." Greg started reading, but put the book away after a short moment. Actually reading the sensationalized story was freaking him out a little, after all. "This guy must've been pretty screwed up."

"...W-Why would you say that?" Nick kept staring at the book.

"He highlighted the most graphic passages, what Novak did and... what happened to him." He sighed. "I can't believe anyone would buy this book... and read it."

"Yeah..." Nick grabbed the book. "I should get back to work now."

"Wait a second."

"...Yes?" Nick looked quite nervous at his friend.

"Didn't you forget something?" He handed him the evidence box. "Take it with you or else I won't get any work done." He smiled at his friend.

Nick returned the smile, but it was a much more nervous one.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry updating took me so long, I'll try to be faster for the next chapter! Now enjoy!**

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><p>As the days went by, Greg felt more and more comfortable around Juno. She encouraged him to talk about his insecurities and fears he had about getting intimate with her without pushing him. He opened up to her like he didn't with any other women he'd dated since the Novak case and he'd never received a reaction as positive from them like he did from Juno. After a month of dating, he was finally entertaining the idea of sleeping with her in the near future. Since she knew about his problems, he felt rather comfortable being in her apartment. She had asked him to visit him, since she was finally allowed back in her own home. The crime scene had been cleaned and Juno was glad to be home again.<p>

"It's funny, you know. Even though he tried to rape that girl, I miss Terence." Juno handed Greg a glass of wine as she sat down next to him on her couch.

He nodded. "I guess that's normal. I mean, you never knew and..."

"That poor girl, I can't imagine how she feels. What she had been through... Unbelieveable, right?"

He nodded again, but with an uncomfortable look on his face.

"...Oh right, sorry. You've been through it."

"I-It's not the same."

"Well, not exactly but... He tried to rape her but didn't succeed. Just like Novak. He got shot... just like him."

"Can we... can we talk about something else?" His cell phone rang.

Juno grabbed the phone and turned it off. "...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. It's just, I still can't grasp what happened, you know?"

"Yeah but..." He looked a bit confused at his phone in her hand. "I really don't want to talk about Novak all the time." While Greg appreciated that Juno tried to help him cope with this, he felt she was asking too many questions. While talking about this sure was a good way to deal with it, he preferred not to get reminded of it all the time.

She put her hand on his. "But you want to get this behind you, don't you?"

"...Of course, but..."

She put her finger on his lips. "Ssshh... You know, I've read up on this subject. Sometimes reliving it helps."

* * *

><p>Nick was getting worried when Greg didn't pick up his phone. Shutting it off wasn't anything he usually did, so he decided to check up on him, knocking on the door to his friend's home. "Greg, are you there?" Nick heard noise coming from the apartment so he decided to go in. "Hey Greg, I'm coming in now!" He carefully walked in and looked around. The TV was on, but Greg wasn't in the living room. His laptop was turned on as well, sitting on the coffee table. "...Greg, is everything alright?" The bedroom door was closed and Nick didn't feel too comfortable going in, but the longer he was inside the apartment with no sight of Greg, the more he worried. He knocked on the bedroom door and waited for any response by his friend, but he didn't get one, so he opened up. "...Greg, what's wrong?"<p>

Greg was sitting on the bedroom floor, leaned against the bed, his head resting on his arms he had propped up on his legs. His reddened eyes were staring at the TV, not even glancing at his friend. "What are you doing here?" was all he said, keeping his eyes fixated on the TV.

Nick took a few steps towards his friend. "...I was worried when you didn't pick up your phone. It's turned off, you know that?"

"Sorry, I forgot to turn it back on. But I wanted to be alone, anyway."

"Well, you should've told me that. I'm not leaving now." Nick sat down next to him. "Have you been crying?"

Greg slightly turned his head away from Nick.

"Is this about Juno?" Nick knew it was when Greg didn't answer. He sighed. "...Did you two...?"

He shook his head.

"Then what happened?"

It took Greg a few seconds before he was able to utter those words, "She's a groupie."

"...Huh?"

"She's one of those lunatics who are obsessed with murderers." He got off his seat. "It's not me she wanted, it's **Novak**."

"...She... what? What happened?"

Greg rubbed his tired, teary eyes. "She suggested we... work on my issues by role-playing what Novak did to me. She claimed she read somewhere this was something psychiatrists did."

"...Oh god, I..." Nick was speechless. "...I'm so sorry."

"She suggested I... I play Novak and she..." He shook his head. He couldn't even verbalize her perverted ideas. "...Why can't I ever meet someone who's... normal and understanding?"

Nick got off his seat, too. He looked at Greg, meaning to tell him the truth about the Novak book he had found in Juno's apartment, but looking into his friend's eyes, he couldn't. So instead of talking, he took a few steps forward to hug him. The two remained in this embrace for a few moments, allowing Greg to cry a little more.

"I really pictured us being together, you know?" Greg let go of Nick and sat on his bed. "She seemed to be patient and understanding and... It's all been a lie."

Nick nodded as he sat down next to him.

"...I guess it's my fault. You tried to warn me."

Nick hastily shook his head. "You couldn't have known. And you shouldn't have expected her to deceive you."

"No? When was the last time something good has happened to me? I'm happy? Well, there sure gotta be something wrong, then!"

"Stop it, Greg. You're frustrated right now, I get that. But the universe's not conspired against you."

"I don't know, I..." He got up to turn the TV off. "I think it's easier to just accept the fact that I'll be alone for the rest of my life."

"You won't, okay? You'll always have me."

Greg gave him a sad smile. "Sure, but... a relationship's different."

* * *

><p>The following days, Juno tried calling Greg a few times. After ignoring the fifth call, he finally blocked her number even though it didn't really feel right to him. He still had feelings for her, which confused him and even scared him. But he knew he didn't want anything to do with her.<p>

After collecting evidence at a crime scene for almost three hours, Greg went on his break, grabbing some food on his way to the lab. He sat down in the break room and started eating. But the room was empty and he was left with his thoughts, something he couldn't bare at the moment. He forced himself to sit through it until Hodges and Henry walked in, getting him some relief from his thoughts. "Hey guys."

"Hey Greg." Henry smiled. Both had no idea about what had happened between him and Juno. After some small talk with the CSI, they went back to talking about a case as they were fixing themselves some coffee.

"Hey Greg, you're dating this nurse, right?" Henry asked as he sipped from his coffee.

"...Why?" Greg didn't want anyone to know what happened, he was embarrassed and wanted to protect Juno, without any good reasoning behind it.

"I worked some evidence on the case of her dead roommate. It's been ruled self defense, the woman who shot him won't be prosecuted."

"...Good," Greg replied.

"Well yeah. But that means your girlfriend's roommate was a rapist. She might not take this too well, just thought I'd give you a heads up." The two lab rats walked out of the break room, leaving Greg with his thoughts again. But the CSI had already finished his food and decided to take another look into the case of Juno's dead roommate.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's the next chapter, guys! Hope you enjoy the story!**

* * *

><p>Greg sat down in the evidence room to read the casefiles. Most of the things he read weren't new to him, he already took a look at the evidence box before. But there were a few facts he hadn't heard before that caught his attention immediately.<p>

Russell and Nick walked into the evidence room telling each other stories and laughing. Both stopped when they saw the look on Greg's face. "Hey. ...What's wrong?" Nick asked concerned.

"...I didn't know the guy was shot in Juno's room."

"...Huh?" Only now did Nick realize what files were lying in front of Greg. "What are you doing here? Why are you reading this?"

Greg shrugged. "I just had to. He died in her room?"

Nick nodded.

"...Makes sense. The Novak book... it's hers."

Nick sighed. "I didn't think it would have done any good to tell you."

"The woman who shot him... who claims he tried to rape her... Mira Watts. She had scratches on her neck."

Nick and Russell frowned as they listened. They weren't sure what he was trying to say.

"But not enough skin cells under the victim's fingernails to compare DNA."

Nick nodded. "I thought this was a little weird, but you know how it works. With an obvious case like that, we don't waste too much time on it and go on to the next one."

"There's always more than enough skin cells under finger nails with such deep scratches. There should even be some blood."

Nick shrugged. "Maybe he cleaned them somehow."

"...When? There wasn't enough time."

"Greg, do you have a point?" Russell asked, getting quite frustrated. He felt like Greg was obsessing over this because his girlfriend was invovled. He didn't know what happened between the two earlier.

Greg grabbed the Novak story out of the evidence box. "Here. It was Novak's first murder. Him and a college friend raped a fellow student in their own dorm. ...In Novak's room. He then shot him."

Russell nodded with a worried look on his face as Nick read the passages Greg was pointing at. They were highlighted. "...I'm still not sure what you're trying to say, Greg."

"What, you think this is a coincidence? It's described in the book that Novak's friend scratched the victim on the neck. He had bruises on his arm and leg, just like Watts."

Nick showed Russell the highlighted lines. "So you think they were re-enacting this?"

"That's exactly what Juno wanted me to do." He ignored the surprised and questioning look on Russell's face. "But why were they in Juno's room? Why was there a loaded gun in Juno's nightstand?"

"That's some pretty serious allegations." Russell wasn't sure what to think of it yet. "But I have to admit, reading this feels a bit like reading our case file. But how could we prove anything?"

* * *

><p>After discussing a few ways to shed some light into the case and find out whether or not Juno was involved in any way, Greg left the evidence room. Nick quickly followed. "Hey Greg. I hope you understand why I didn't tell you about the book and aren't mad about it."<p>

Greg smiled at him. "You couldn't have known it was important."

"Yeah but... I thought it was better not to tell you. I'm not so sure that was the right call."

Greg shrugged. "It might as well have been, you know?"

Nick nodded thoughtful as he followed his friend into the locker room. "Where are you going?"

"I think Juno's working tonight, I want to talk to her." He opened his locker to get his shoes out, but Nick shut the locker again.

"What? No! You're not going anywhere near this woman."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not, I'm dead serious. You suspect her to be a murderer, why would you want to talk to her again?"

"To find out what happened." He shrugged as he opened his locker again.

"What?!" Nick shut the locker again. "Are you serious?!"

"...It **stays open**, alright?" Greg rolled his eyes as he opened the locker once more. "Nick, I'm not stupid. I won't ask any obvious questions, I just think that she might open up to me."

"Why should she? You already turned her down."

"Yeah but I could pretend like I changed my mind and ask her questions..."

"Like what? 'Hey, did you kill your roommate?' "

Greg gave him a look. "I think I'm capable of handling this a little more subtle."

"You can't and you won't." Nick grabbed Greg's jacket out of his hand. "You're not going."

"Yeah, you said that a bunch of times already. I don't care. I **am** going." Greg grabbed the jacket and walked out of the room.

Nick followed. "Come on, man! She's dangerous!"

"She's at the hospital right now, Nick. Together with a lot of other people. There's no danger."

* * *

><p>As much as Nick tried, he didn't succeed in talking Greg out of meeting up with Juno. The CSI was determined to help shed some light in this matter, but he was also looking forward to seeing her again. He was very confused about his feelings towards her at the moment. When he arrived at the hospital, Juno was placing an IV on a patient. She quickly noticed she was being watched and was quite pleased to see it was Greg, standing a few feet away from her. "...Hey Greg." She smiled at him as she finished her work. "I'll be back in a moment, sir." She walked away from the patient and to Greg, meaning to greet him with a hug. But he stepped back, slightly putting his hands up to sign her to back up. "...Sorry. I thought you were here to reconcile..."<p>

"...I-I am but... Can we talk somewhere?"

"Sure." She walked him into the doctor's lounge where they were alone. "I tried calling you, you know."

He nodded. "I thought it was better to do this in person."

"And... what exactly is it we're doing?" She smiled. "Wait, before you say anything, just let me tell you how sorry I am. I really thought I was being helpful, you know? I realize I wasn't and... I apologize."

Greg gave her a faint smile. For a moment, he believed her. At least he wanted to. "I appreciate it but... I think I have a few more questions. Where did you get the idea?"

"What? ...I don't know, I think I saw it in a movie or something."

"What kind of movie?"

The nurse looked a bit embarrassed. "What difference does that make?"

Greg shrugged. "It matters to me."

"I really don't remember. But I apologized, that should count for something, right?"

"Well, I just think it's weird you decided it was a good idea to suggest this, just weeks after your roommate had been shot by a woman who claims he tried to rape her."

"...People grieve differently, Greg. I'm sorry if my way of handling this situation isn't up to your standards." She was obviously getting quite defensive right now. She got off her seat. "You know what? There's only so much I can say to make you understand how sorry I am."

Greg watched her carefully. He knew it was important not to say anything that might make her realize what he was trying to do.

"I really like you, Greg. And I would wait until you are ready to get intimate. I tried to move things along and I realize that was a mistake. I don't think it's fair of you to judge me only by this moment when I've been the perfect girlfriend all the other times!"

"That's not what I'm trying to do, but... I'm still not sure you realize how scary this was for me. Never, ever would I want to relive what happened to me. Assigning me the role of Novak doesn't make it any easier, any less creepy." He realized it was better not to keep talking, but he just couldn't stop himself right now. "It actually makes it worse. I'd never be able to do anything remotely similar to what he did to me, not even if the other person wanted it that way. I'm shocked you thought I could enjoy it and I'm wondering whether you cared if I did."

Juno had tears in her eyes, partly tears of anger. "I said I'm sorry. I really want to be with you and I'll promise I won't ever ask anything like that again. That's all I can offer. Is it enough for you?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Here we go again :)**

* * *

><p>"Hey." Greg walked into the break room with his head down low.<p>

Nick was sitting at the table, nervously seesawing his leg. "How'd it go?"

He sighed as he sat down opposite his friend. "I'm not sure. It's tough, you know? On some level, I still like her. I still fantasize about being with her. But I just know... I don't know how, but I know she's responsible for her roommate's death."

Nick nodded empathetically. "She might get away with it. We had no reason to suspect her, there's no evidence to suggest she had anything to do with it."

Greg looked thoughtful. "Alibi?"

"We didn't check, she... Wait, no. She came home when we processed the scene. She just came back from a night shift."

"...He died on a wednesday?"

Nick nodded. "I think so."

"She's not working the night shift on wednesday." Greg got off his seat and stormed out of the room, hurrying into the evidence storage room. "She's never working wednesday nights because she has art class on thursday morning!"

Nick watched Greg browse through the casefiles in confusion. "What are you looking for?"

He finally found what he was looking for. "...There, wednesday. Check if she was working that night. I'm pretty sure she didn't, but it's possible she had to fill in for a colleague."

* * *

><p>Nick was surprised to find Greg was right – nurse Juno didn't work on the night in question, even though she came home in scrubs while they were processing her room. It gave Nick enough reason to make her come by the station again, where he and Russell interrogated her. "Why did you lie about where you'd been?" Nick asked quite aggressively.<p>

Juno frowned. "...Oh god, am I in trouble for it? I didn't think, I was in shock."

"So what's the truth?"

She looked around a little worried. "Is Greg listening somehow?" When both CSIs shook their heads, she went on. "I'm not proud of it, alright? But I was with another man."

"...Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. It didn't mean anything. I was with Gene, my ex-boyfriend."

"Why didn't you tell us about this once you recovered from your shock?"

"Because I didn't think it was important. And I didn't want to upset Greg. Nothing happened with Gene, we're friends and I wanted to tell him about Greg. I went there after my shift, that's why I was still in scrubs."

Nick frowned. "Your shift ended at 7.30 p.m. ...almost 12 hours later, you're back home?"

Juno nodded without thinking about it.

"You spent 12 hours at your ex-boyfriend's after a 12 hour shift, even though you had art class just hours later? And you're telling me nothing happened between you two?"

"...What are you doing here? Greg doesn't want to be with me anymore, what difference does it make?"

"This has nothing to do with you and Greg, it's about you and Terence, Juno. And we'll have to talk to Gene to confirm your story, so you better do some hard thinking right now and tell us what exactly happened." Nick was starting to lose his patience with her, but so did she with him.

"Fine. You want to know the truth? We had sex! Yeah, we broke up months ago but we're still sleeping together occasionally! Happy now?"

Nick gave her a look. "So you cheated on Greg."

"Nick..." Russell chimed in. "Like you said, this is not about her and Greg," he whispered to him.

"...Sure. So you spent 12 hours having sex with your ex?"

"...You're disgusting. No, we talked, too. Watched some TV, ate, that kinda stuff. I'm not proud of it, alright? I still have feelings for him. But I really like Greg, and this would've ended once Greg and I got serious."

"You already **were** serious! In his mind you were!" Nick tried to calm himself down again. "Alright." He put a piece of paper and a pen on the table. "Here. Write Gene's full name, phone number and address down."

She sighed annoyed as she wrote it all down. "There. Can I go now?"

* * *

><p>It was Greg's own decision not to watch Juno's interrogation, but he was still very nosy and wanted to stay informed about the case. He went through the files again, sitting in the break room, when he read a name he hadn't heard before.<p>

"Hey Greg." Nick walked in, fixing himself a cup of coffee. "...Are you still reading those files?"

"Yeah... who's Gene Stoltz?"

"...Alright, that's it." Nick put his coffee cup down on the table and grabbed the files out of his friend's hands.

"...Hey!"

"This ends now. Stop snooping around. You're not supposed to work the case for a reason. Just lean back, concentrate on your own cases and wait until we have something solid. I promise you're going to hear it from me."

"...Alright. But who's Gene Stoltz?"

Nick and Greg stared at each other for a few seconds, both hoping the other one would give in. It was important for Nick to protect Greg, but he was bad at this game. "...He's her alibi."

"Yeah? Who is he?"

"...Greg..." He sat down next to him at the table. "Can't we just leave it at that?"

"What, does she have a boyfriend? Was I her affair?" Greg asked quite mocking. The mocking tone in his voice was gone when he saw the look on his friend's face. "...She has a boyfriend?!"

"Not exactly. She says he's her ex and... they meet up every once in a while."

"Well, that's perfect! Isn't it? That's more than I can expect, I guess, when I'm not willing to..."

Nick quickly stopped him. "No, don't! Greg, it's quite likely she went out with you **because** **of it**. Haven't you considered that, yet?"

"...What? What do you mean?"

"You said it yourself. She's a groupie. I really think she was willing to wait until you were ready, but for all the wrong reasons."

Greg sighed. "Great. That's much better."

"Come on, this isn't important at the moment. We need to find out whether or not she committed a murder. Who knows if she's really been with him, she might be using him as an alibi. And claiming she slept with him could just be a tactic to distract us from what's really important."

Greg nodded. "You might be right. ...Not sure that'd make it better, but you might have a point. So what's the plan now?"


End file.
